Dirty

Serving instruction

Dirty is a drink order that adds olive brine, so the drink turns cloudy and salty.

Dirty Martini brine: 0.25 to 0.5 oz (7 to 15 ml) olive brine
Extra dirty: More than 0.5 oz (15 ml) olive brine
Classic dirty spec: 2.5 oz (74 ml) gin or vodka, 0.5 oz (15 ml) dry vermouth, plus the brine

What Dirty means

Olive brine is the whole change. A dirty Martini takes about 0.25 to 0.5 oz (7 to 15 ml) of olive brine, and that is what you taste and see. You will meet the word on menus, and the usual order is a dirty vodka Martini with olives.

A classic dirty Martini is 2.5 oz (74 ml) gin or vodka with 0.5 oz (15 ml) of dry vermouth, plus the brine. The brine is an addition, and the vermouth stays. Dirty and neat answer different questions. A drink is dirty because brine goes in, and it is neat because the spirit is poured with no ice.

Some people hear dirty and assume a cheap or messy drink. In a bar order, the word only means the brine went in. Nothing else changes about the drink, so a dirty Martini is still a cold Martini, built the same way as any other.

How to order a drink dirty

Name the spirit, then add dirty. Say extra dirty for more brine, or a little dirty for less.

Dirty vodka Martini, up, with olives.A cold vodka Martini with 0.25 to 0.5 oz (7 to 15 ml) of olive brine, served in a stemmed glass with olives.
Extra dirty gin Martini, up.A cold gin Martini with more than 0.5 oz (15 ml) of olive brine, so it is heavier on the brine than a standard order.
Gin Martini, a little dirty, up.A cold gin Martini with less brine than a standard dirty order, served in a stemmed glass.

Dirty compared

DryDry cuts the vermouth, while dirty adds brine. A dry dirty Martini has little vermouth and some brine.
WetWet adds vermouth where dirty adds brine. A wet dirty Martini takes both.
Extra dirtyExtra dirty, sometimes called filthy, puts in more brine than a standard dirty, more than 0.5 oz (15 ml).
GibsonA Gibson swaps the olives for a cocktail onion and leaves out the brine.

Related terms

Ingredients

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Garçon explains every step as you make the drink.